OK: Oklahoma lawmakers could rethink state sex offender registry
An Oklahoma legislative committee is rethinking the state’s Sex Offender Registry after hearing from experts and advocates about how indiscriminate restrictions in state law are negatively impacting victims in unforeseen ways. Oklahoma senators heard testimony and expertise from victims and advocates Tuesday, Sept. 6, on why state laws about the registry should be updated. Statements from convicted offenders and assault victims alike said unintended consequences from the Sex Offender Registration Act continue to adversely affect them.
Representative Suzanne Schreiber, a Tulsa Democrat who co-led the hearing, admitted the topic was uncomfortable and difficult, but emphasized that it was the legislature’s duty to address hard problems. She said cases she was also hearing from constituents weren’t isolated situations but instead pointed to systemic patterns and issues. “When the registry was created, we were trying to answer how to protect families from our most dangerous predators, and that’s a very legitimate goal,” Schreiber said. “But in the years since, it has been layered on and layered on, and now we have a question of whether we are actually getting in the way of public safety with the Sex Offender Registry and the way that it has evolved.”
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https://youtu.be/MEUk3g2QmhM?is=utQVe2ArA0hSRP34
How encouraging that the OK legislatures are at least willing to have a conversation about this! And even recognize that the system desperately needs to be addressed and changed. The PFRs who are homeless with no path to change that, those with dementia who no longer understand reporting requirements and are denied access to long term care facilities, and a host of other similar situations, are only populations that will continue to grow under lifetime registration requirements. No reasonable person can believe that these results of such onerous laws make our communities safer. Thank you FAC for bringing this lawsuit against FDLE.